


In Control No More

by orphan_account



Category: Transformers: Prime, Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempt at Humor, Friendship/Love, Hatred, Hiding Medical Issues, I'm Bad At Mimicking Ratchet, Illnesses, Minor Injuries, Sick Character, Sparring, Violence, mild cybertronian cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-26 17:04:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9912515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When Ratchet catches a dangerous virus, he is forced to leave the base and move to Griffin Rock. He discovers he hates it there, and all he wants to do is go home.





	1. Sick and Tired

It took a few klicks for Ratchet to figure out what was going on. His intank hurt like The Pits and he was having trouble breathing. Feeling a sudden sour tang in his mouth, he rushed to the washracks where he purged violently.

The commotion had woken Ratchet’s roommate up. Optimus yawned and blinked, glancing a look at Ratchet’s empty berth. A gross, irritating sound startling him. Thinking fast, he threw the blankets onto the floor, literally _leaped_ out of the berth and raced to the washracks, where he was taken by surprise.

Ratchet was bent over a waste tank, coughing up his earlier energon, gasping for breath. Optimus put a servo over his mouth and stood, staring for a few klicks, optics wide in shock. He managed to get control over his body again, and walked toward his CMO, kneeling down beside Ratchet, who hiccupped in response.

“O-Optimus?” he rasped, looking up, energon all over his face. “I’m here,” the Prime said, rubbing his back as the medic continued to purge. “Uuuh… I-I d-don’t f-feel…” Ratchet fell over, landing on Optimus’ lap. Optimus blinked and checked the medic for fever. Sure enough, his forehelm was scorching hot.

The Autobot commander picked the elder up into his arms and cradled him gently. He exited the room, and headed to the medbay. Ratchet woke up with gasp, his colors fading slightly. Optimus looked around in pure panic. Arcee’s room was closest.

He overrode the femme’s password and rushed inside, grabbing a garbage bucket from under a night table. “What the-? Optimus? Ratchet? What are you guys- Oh.” Optimus looked up at the femme who sat up in her berth, looking on in silence as Ratchet puked.

“What happened?”

“I woke up to find him sickened, and I was taking him to the medbay. I had no choice but to barge in on you. I apologize for your lack of privacy.” Arcee nodded slowly, getting out of the berth. “Of course. If you had no other choice, then this was the right thing to do… ‘Cause _I_ wasn’t gonna clean it up.”

Arcee sighed. “What did he eat to make him ill like this?” Optimus shrugged, standing up. “I have no idea. We might have to call Sigma-17 for Blades, the Rescue Bot for support. I am aware he has not finished his training, but he is the only ally medic on Earth.”

Arcee nodded. “Good idea.”

*~*~*

Ratchet hadn’t stopped purging until morning, and he was exhausted. He felt like scrap, and all he could do was purge. Optimus had brought him back to his berth, where he had been out cold for hours. When he awoke, he was in the medbay, a young white and orange mech standing above him.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“No, I’m not okay! I’m sick and my mouth tastes horrible! Why would I be okay?” he sneered. The mech looked shocked at the medic’s attitude. He shrugged it off and went over to get a hand-held scanner. “Who are you?” Ratchet asked, not taking his optics off of the scanner.

“My name’s Blades. I’m the medic of Sigma-17.” Ratchet scoffed. “Puh-lease! You look like you should still be in training!” Blades looked offended. “Hey! I may not have finished my medical training, but I’m not _that_ bad! I know how to take care of viruses.”

Ratchet blinked. Were those _rotors_ behind this mech’s back? And a _canopy_ over his helm?

_Oh, Primus! This is a flier! I’ve_ never _seen and Autobot who flies except for Prime!_

“Are you a ‘con?” Ratchet growled, not trusting this mech at all. Blades looked startled. “What’s a ‘con’?”

“Don’t play dumb, _Fly Boy._ Where am I?”

“You’re in the medbay.”

“The Nemesis medbay?”

“ _Nemesis_?”

Okay, this mech was _really_ getting on his nerves now. And now what was he rambling on about? “You know, there was this bad guy named Nemesis on a TV show, but I don’t think that’s the same thing.”

“For Primus’ sake, STOP TALK-” Ratchet never got to finish. He was interrupted by a foul-tasting cube of energon shoved in his mouth. He gurgled around it, trying to push the younger away, but Blades was strict as he forced Ratchet to drink.

Blades finally pulled away, empty cube in hand, a look of worry on his face. “WHAT THE FRAG DID YOU PUT IN ME?!” Ratchet screeched, wiping his mouth off. “Symboitly. Your colors are fading… Just like Optimus explained…”

Ratchet blinked, the sensation of the medicine in his systems strange and new. “It will knock you out for a few cycles, but when you awake, you should feel much better.”

Ratchet nodded, too tired to yell about how he knew what it was and did. He laid back on the medical berth and offlined his optics, recharge making his body limp.

*~*~*

“Is he _still_ out cold?” Ratchet heard someone ask. “No. He’s onlining now.” Ratchet didn’t bother moving until he felt his last system charge up. He opened his optics and sat up. “W-where am I?” He was in an _entirely_ different location. A location he had never seen before.

His face fell as he looked around. He didn’t recognize _any_ of these bots except for the one who took care of him… and annoy him.

A red one stepped forward. “I’m Heatwave. Leader of Sigma-17, Rescue Bots. You are still on Earth, but you are on an Island called Griffin Rock. Optimus has sent you here because the virus you now have needs to be in supervision of a medic. Blades is our medic, but he cannot stay at your base forever, so Optimus Prime sent you here.”

Rescue Bots. Rescue Bots… That isn’t possible! All Rescue Bots were off-lined centuries ago, and no one had ever bothered to train anyone for more. But these Cybertronians _do_ have the frames of them…

“Where is he now?”

“Who?”

“Optimus!”

“He’s still in Jasper, Nevada.” Ratchet nodded sleepily. “’Kay.” He looked down on instinct and saw a very _large_ group of humans. Two older mechs, two younger, a femme, and two children… Oh, Primus… Was that one child a _femme…_? He was _not_ going to survive this ‘visit’.

“Get out of my way! I want to see him too!”

Oh… And _another_ mech.

“Mr. Mayor, please be careful with him. He just woke up,” the older mech dressed in blue said. He had a weird thing on his face… Mustache, was it called?

“Yeah, yeah.” Ratchet rolled his optics. He was going to hate _this_ one. They barely met, and he didn’t like him very much.

“I am Mayor Lusky! Mayor of this island.” Ratchet blinked once, and the human backed away. “Uhh…” He smirked. Wimp.

“I’m Chief Charlie Burns. Chief of the firehouse that you are currently in. This is my family.” He gestured to part of the group. “Danny, Kade, Graham, and Cody. This is Doctor Ezra Green and his daughter, Francine Green.” The femme held her hands on her hips. “But you can call me Franky for short.”

“I am Chase. It is my responsibility to-”

“And I’m Blades!” Blades said, pushing Chase out of the way. “Oh wait… You’ve already met me.” A bulky green mech stepped up.

_Oh, Primus! Not_ another _one!_

“I’m Boulder! It’s nice to meet you! What’s your name?”

Ratchet blinked. This mech was _nothing_ like Bulkhead. He was sweeter, calmer, gentler… and _smarter_ for sure. “What’s your name?” Boulder repeated. “Ratchet,” Ratchet answered finally, dazed.

“So let me get this straight… I have a virus, so Optimus sent me _here_ so our team doesn’t catch it… But that doesn’t make sense! You guys might catch it too…”

Blades shook his helm. “Nope. All of us were forced to take a Shield Holopract before we became Rescue Bots.” The red headed human-Kade, was it?- snorted. “Nerd alert!” Heatwave looked down. “A formula that protects us from viruses.”

“It didn’t help you though.”

“That was Synthetic Energon. That was different.”

“Oh… What’s-”

“Just… don’t.”

“Okay. Fine. But what exactly is it?”

“Gillitine.”

“How the frag did I catch _that_?”

Heatwave shrugged. “How the slag should _I_ know?” He pointed toward Blades. “ _He’s_ the medic.” Ratchet blinked and looked toward the youngest mech. “Uuuh… Weeeell, umm…” Ratchet glared at him. “You don’t have a clue, do you?”

Blades paused and slumped forward. “No…”

Ratchet stretched and sighed. He was sick and- He quickly covered his mouth. Blades got the memo and gave him a bucket. Ratchet bent over and began purging violently, all while blushing as optics and eyes stared at him as he did so.

They all had a look of disgust on their faces except for the smallest human (Cody) and Blades who stared at him in pity.

Ratchet pointed to a rag that was just out of his reach beside him as he hurled into the plastic container. Chase grabbed it and handed it to him, but Ratchet didn’t take it. He couldn’t.

A few moments later, Ratchet lifted his helm, gagging at the smell of his own puked-up energon. He used the rag to wipe the grossness of his chin and groaned. He felt terrible. Like a complete pile of scrap metal.

Embarrassed, he covered his face. “It’s okay. We all puke sometimes. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“But I’m a _medic_. I should know how to take care of myself,” Ratchet mumbled back. “You should lie down. You’ve been through a lot, you know,” Boulder said, pushing the older frame down. “It’s best if we leave you some time alone, right?” Ratchet nodded, reading his data file. His energy levels were extremely low. Energon, and rest.


	2. Unrested

Not knowing much of sickness and medical attention, Chase was extremely new to this. He had only gotten sick once, and that wasn’t even a _real_ virus. He knew more about police codes, and respect, and protecting others, _not_ healing or medicine.

So having two medics on the team was startling. Well, Ratchet wasn’t _quite_ on the team. Just a… visitor. He wasn’t going stay long… At least the police-bot didn’t think so. Blades seemed so confident that letting the sickened old mech on Griffin Rock was such a good idea… But he wasn’t always right… No offence, of course.

Besides, helping others even the cost of death was a rule. The most important one. It was even mentioned in the vow…

*~*~*

_“Do you, (Name) the (Kind)-Bot, vow to put yourself in front of danger to protect the others around you even at the cost of your very spark? Do you promise to jump in front of flames, and rocks, and snow in order to save the lives of fellow Cybertronians? Are you completely willing to die for life even it is for a spirit that you despise most?”_

_“I do.”_

_“Then I call to my ancestors and the Thirteen to look down upon this new Rescue Bot, which has promised (His/Her) life to save the others in need. Lead this brave (Mech/Femme) through (His/Her) darkest hours and bring (Him/Her) back safely from the big journey ahead.”_

_Mech/Femme bows, slowly rises when Prime says ‘Arise’, and bows helm. Takes five steps back before turning around to leave._

*~*~*

… The Rescue Bot Vow. The vow was so sacred and ancient that only a Prime could say it. In this case, Vector Prime was the one to do Chase. Vector Prime did only three of them: Heatwave, Boulder, and himself. Blades, Blurr, and Salvage had been done by Optimus Prime.

_Later, the Mech/Femme will be assigned to a team by an Ultra. Each team holds four members. The medic, the scout, the muscle, and the leader._

_The medic’s mentor will train the medic and put them on a team themselves instead of an Ultra. The muscle will be trained by a Wrecker, the scout will be trained by a warrior, and the leader will be trained by an Ultra._

As for the Ultra… They had all been done by Ultra Vinumis, except for the newest recruits who obviously were assigned by Optimus Prime. Blades’ mentor had been Short Out. Chase never met her, but he was told she was very nice. Too bad she died in the war.

As for the war! Ugh! Chase _hated_ the fact that Megatronus, the most fearsome gladiator of all time, had gone against them and destroyed their home. _His_ home! He was scarred for life because of it!

Chase sighed. It was hard being a Rescue Bot, but at least he and his team survived the worst part of the war… Right?

*~*~*

Optimus Prime lay in his berth, trying to stop listening for the soft hum of the nonexistent engine that usually lullabied him into recharge. He knew Ratchet wasn’t there. The only thing across the room was an empty berth. Ratchet was halfway across the country.

Not that it stopped him though. He strained, hoping to find a trace of the slow breathing. Finding none, he rolled over to his side. He wanted his friend back. Hopefully he’ll get better soon… It wasn’t just him who needed the sick mech, it was the whole team.

Team Prime was completely vulnerable without a medic. Arcee had a long gash on her hip, so she was trapped staying in the medbay. Not just her, but Bulkhead’s clumsiness that got him injured. How hard was it to go from the medberth to the counsel without falling over your own pedes? I mean really! Come on!

As irritating as it is, He still had Bumblebee and Smokescreen. That should hold them long enough for-

CRASH! “SCRAP! THAT FRAGGIN’ HURT!”

Optimus sighed. There goes Smokescreen. He made his way to the main room where Smokescreen was holding his arm. “Let me see.” Smokescreen hissed in pain, but did what he was told, taking his hand off of the injured arm, letting the Prime see the deep scratch made from the sharp tool.

Optimus couldn’t help but wince. With Ratchet, that wouldn’t have taken a minute to fix, no biggy. But Ratchet wasn’t here… Which meant Smokescreen was going to have to stay in the medbay with Arcee and Bulkhead. One more warrior down.

The Prime was near panic right now… If Team Prime didn’t have a medic, all will be lost… Including the war.

*~*~*

“Aww! Come on! Not Smokey too!” Miko whined. “Who’ll take me on drives now?” /I can take ya!/ Bumblebee offered, pointing at himself. Miko seemed to know what he meant, and shook her head. “I can’t even understand you.”

“Then allow me.” Miko paused, thinking about it. Optimus smiled, his servo resting on the floor, palm up so that the little girl could climb up if it was an agreement. “If Bulk’s okay with it.”

“’KAY!” came from the medbay.

“Sure!” Miko quickly replied, climbing onto Optimus’ servo. Optimus smiled and lifted the youngling up to his face. “Where to first?”

Miko smiled. He had _no_ idea what he was in for.

*~*~*

After a long day of sneezing, coughing, purging, and resting, Ratchet was ready for some work. He got up and headed to where the Rescue Bot’s counsel was.

_Hmph. Not much, but it’ll do,_ he thought with a smirk.

*~*~*

“Ratchet?” Ratchet nearly jumped out of his armor. “What are you doing?” Cody asked. “Working.”

“But you should be in bed. It’s really late.”

“So should you. Please leave me be and let me do my job.”

“Um… Ratchet?”

“ _What_?”

“You don’t have to.”

“What? Why?” Ratchet asked, surprised. “You’re sick. You don’t have to work,” Cody explained. “So?  Work all the time.”

“Not when you’re sick.”

Ratchet was starting to get _very_ fusterated right now. Why can’t he work? What was the big deal with it?

“You’re on break.”

“Break? I _never_ take breaks!”

“You have to.”

“ _Why_?” The question came out in an embarrassing whine, but Ratchet was too upset to care. “It’s for your health. Optimus wouldn’t want you to get worst, right? That would only mean you’d have to stay longer.”

Ratchet rolled his optics. He was being bossed around by a human. A human who seemed to _care_ about his health. “I’m a medic. I know what should and shouldn’t do.”

“But humans-”

“I’M NOT A HUMAN! BACK OFF!” Cody stiffened and backed up… “O-okay.”

*~*~*

Primus… Ratchet should have listened to the child. He felt worst then yesterday because of the lack of sleep. He hung his helm in embarrassment as Heatwave lectured him. “… and now for that, you’re sicker, and it was all your fault-”

“Look, I don’t need to be bossed around by a brat!”

“Excuse me?” Heatwave looked taken aback. “You heard me! A younglin’ like you should be taking orders from me, not the other way ‘round!”

Heatwave sneered, making ratchet wince a little. “I am the leader of this team. And as long you’re here, you listen to _me_. Do you understand?”

“Oh, I understand alright! That you’re a fraggin’, slaggin’, heap ‘o scrap!” Ratchet snarled back. He stood up, hovering over the team leader. “I listen to _Optimus_. Not some little rookie with bad manners!”

Gasps were heard all of around. “He shouldn’t have said that…” the medic heard Blades whisper to Boulder. Heatwave pulled his fists up. “Let’s settle it with a spar the, old man!” Ratchet felt his shoulders relax in realization of what he had gotten himself into. He couldn’t fight… But he couldn’t turn Heatwave’s challenge down either.

Ratchet pulled up his own fists as well. “I do not think this should be settled with physical violence!” Chase cried out, but it was too late. Ratchet had already thrown him at the other mech clumsily. Heatwave easily dodged, getting in a lucky shot to the elder’s side. Ratchet winced. No way. Not yet.

He tried again, but ended up on the floor. “Pretty good for an _old scraper_.”

More gasps. Ratchet couldn’t take it anymore. His side hurt, and he was positive it was bleeding. Warnings came up on his screen and he was sure that his fear was definitely shown in his field. The mech had him pinned down, smirking.

“Give up?” Ratchet nodded. The pressure on his back lifted. “Go figures. Here.” Ratchet stared at the offering servo, confused. “Well? Ya gonna take it?” Heatwave asked, impatient. The medic grabbed it, going limp as the younger lifted him off the ground. Blades and Chase quickly came forward to help support him.

Ratchet reached for his side. It was damp. He looked at his servo and whimpered. He _was_ bleeding… And it hurt like the Pits. Blades and Chase let go, but it was too soon. Ratchet fell to the ground, wincing in pain.

To be continued…


	3. Relocated

Heatwave looked around. Everyone was glaring at him. “What?”

“You hurt Ratchet! You shouldn’t have done that, ‘wave!” Blades lectured. Heatwave rolled his optics. “It’s just a little cut. He’ll survive.”

“That is not the point. I had warned you not to settle this with violence,” Chase said, frowning. A painful moan was heard from the floor. Heatwave looked down, and he wish he hadn’t. Ratchet was _surrounded_ with spilled energon. “Ratchet!” Boulder yelled. “Get him into the medbay!” Blades ordered.

*~*~*

Ratchet woke up to interface cables attached to his panel. An energon stabilizer was placed on the gash on his side. At first, he was confused, but after a few moments of going through his memory files, he remembered.

_Heatwave._

The medic _hated_ him. He should have known not to hurt him! That is _not_ how Autobots are! A little spar is different than trying to kill the opponent like a Decepticon! These ‘bots _must_ be lying! There was _no way_ they were Rescue Bots!

Ratchet tried to sit up, but a servo held him down. “Steady, old friend.” That voice… “O-Optimus?” he stuttered. “I’m here.” Ratchet sighed. Optimus came. “Are these Cybertronians _really_ on our side?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did he hurt me?”

There was a long silence. “I… These Rescue Bots are inexperienced. They do not know how to handle new ‘bots.”

“I want to go home,” Ratchet whimpered. “I know. I know.”

For once, since he had arrived, Ratchet felt safe. His best friend was here, hugging him close, making him feel protected. After all these months, he felt like he was home again, not at the base, but on Cybertron.

“I have an idea,” Optimus said suddenly, pulling away. “There is another team of Rescue Bots.”

“Are they nicer?”

“Well, one is annoying.”

“After all these years with Miko and Smokescreen, I think I’ll survive.”

*~*~*

Ratchet hid behind Optimus’ back, completely out of character. “Ratchet… Come out and meet them. You’ll like them.”

Ratchet took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the Prime. He looked at them. There was a femme and two mechs.

The femme was mostly white with a black helm-piece and a little blue.

One of the mechs looked bulky. He was yellow-green and had a little blue.

The other one was skinnier; mostly purple with a few white stripes and two green ones on his helm, spotting just above his optics.

They were all smiling, probably trying not to look menacing.

“Hi there. My name is Quickshadow,” the femme introduced. She had a little bit of an accent. Ratchet nodded slowly, still unwary. “I’m Salvage. Don’t worry. We’re not gonna hurt you,” the bulky mech said. “The name’s Blurr.”

Ratchet blinked. “I don’t mean to be rude, but are there any humans that I need to know about?” They all shook their helms. “Nope. Just us three,” Salvage answered softly. “Nothin’ to worry about.”

Ratchet looked up at Optimus who was smiling. “Are you comfortable staying with these ‘bots, old friend?” Ratchet thought for a moment. They _seemed_ nice… But like the humans say, never judge a book by its cover…

Ratchet gave a small nod. “I’ll give them a try. If things don’t work out, I’ll contact you.” Optimus smiled. “Of course.”

*~*~*

After the first week, Ratchet found himself comfortable in the Maine. He liked Salvage the best. Quickshadow seemed a little strict, and Blurr was, indeed, annoying… He liked to show off… A lot.

Not that Ratchet minded. So did Smokescreen. But there was a little problem… He would enjoy himself better if he wasn’t purging. Thankfully, the Gillitine was wearing off. His healing systems were working double time.

Quickshadow helped him exercise so that his balance kept stable. Blurr took him on drives, and fortunately went slow for him, driving next to him at all times. Salvage kept him on a healthy diet and gave him medical energon three times a day, and he behaved, he would earn a medium grade.

It made his life easier since the whole island knew about Cybertronians. When he needed to stop during his drives, he could transform and not worry about anybody seeing him and ruining his team’s cover.

Once a week, Optimus would visit with one other ‘bot from the team. Bumblebee was the one to come most times, and if Ratchet was lucky, they would bring Raf too.

Ratchet was able to go outside and watch the stars at night when he was having trouble recharging. Sometimes, he fell asleep there, and woke up, assuming one of the ‘bots carried him inside.

The one thing Ratchet liked the best, was the training center. He loved watching the others train, and this type of training didn’t involve any injuries. He was glad. When they came back from a rescue mission hurt, Ratchet was healthy enough to help them.

Soon, Ratchet had stopped purging, and his fever had gone away completely. By this time, Ratchet could actually help with rescuing. It wasn’t the same as going out into the battle field; Ratchet was thankful. He didn’t do the real rescuing, but he knew enough to help any humans who were injured.

Thank Nurse Darby.

Speaking of which, Don is gonna need help after _that_ kind of crash. He quickly raced over and began working on the human. He noticed the sharp gasps and realized he was in shock. He sighed. “You must be the biggest trouble maker I’ve ever met. One of these days, you’re gonna kill yourself.”

He instructed (more like demanded) the human to take deep breaths and concentrate on Ratchet’s face all while cursing.

“Fraggin’ human! Why the slag would you put yourself in danger like that? Do you _want_ to die? The Primus forsaken traffic light is there for a reason, not for Pit spawns like you to ignore it! Are you blind?”

Don seemed to be snapping out of it by now. Ratchet didn’t know if it was because of the deep breathing or the constant cursing. “Better?” Don nodded, holding his head. “Thanks… Are you new?”

“Yes, but I won’t be staying forever.” The human smiled. “Well, welcome to Griffin Rock.”

“I’ve been here for quite a while now. Just haven’t been outside much lately. Now, Blades and Dani are coming to bring you to the hospital soon. I need you to stay here and wait for them, okay?” Don nodded.

*~*~*

By the end of the month, it was time to go home. “I hope I’ll see you guys again,” Ratchet said, giving a rare smile. “Me too. It feels nice to have another ‘bot on the team,” Blurr said, winking. “Who knows? If we do see each other again, it might be on Cybertron,” Salvage remarked.

“Good bye,” Ratchet said, heading through the groundbridge. “Bye!”

.....

And Ratchet was home.

End.


End file.
